SheDisrupts Malaysia 2023

Presented by Creatella Impact and Social Value Malaysia

Connect to global leading experts and pitch to investors
Be part of the change

Demo day: 8 December 2023, 2pm MYT

SheDisrupts Malaysia 2023 is a Venture Competition, Mentorship and Pre-Acceleration Program for women-led early-stage social impact startups. The program is fully remote and offers tools, resources and opportunities to help women entrepreneurs to get access to capital to grow their businesses and advance the socio-economic progress and empowerment of women in Malaysia.

Are you the changemaker we are looking for?
Don’t miss the chance to apply!

Eligibility criteria

Competition & Mentoring

ROUND 1

ROUND 2

100% online
50 startups invited in Round 1 and 2
50+ mentors
25+ judges
1 round of 2 mentorship sessions
1 pitching round to 2 judges

Pre-Acceleration

100% online
20 startups selected
3 weeks
Lectures
Hands-on workshops
Mentoring

Demo Day

20 startups
Pitch to investors
Potential investments
Networking

Pre-Acceleration programme

Why Apply

Prizes and Perks

$20,000 subsidy in Dev

Subsidy of 50% of tech venture building cost, up to 20,000 USD, for up to 3 startups

Fee-free processing with Stripe

Get fee-free processing with Stripe.

20% off Carta

20% discount on the base price for up to 25 stakeholders

Entry to Techstars

Entry interview to Techstars Startup Accelerator (global)

$10,000 in Freshworks credits

Get $10,000 in credits and create customers-for-life using the right tools, mentorship and resources

Software donation

Oracle NetSuite Social Impact software donation for qualifying social enterprises

$50,000 in Segment credits

Up to $50,000 in credits over 200 marketing, analytics, and data warehousing tools

$82,000 savings with HubSpot

Up to $82,000 savings in the first 12 months, up to 90% off for qualifying startups.

Up to $100,000 Google Cloud credits

$2,000 to $100,000 in Google Cloud credits, valid for two years.

AWS credits from AWS EdStart

Credits to any start-up that qualifies for AWS EdStart program.

Design workshop by Styliff Tech

2 hours of Strategic UX Design mentoring by senior app creators and entrepreneurs

Timeline

Application deadline

Submit your pitch and application online

8 October 2023, 23:59 MYT

Selection

Top 50+ teams are selected for 1st round

18 October 2023

Round 1: Mentoring

The 50+ selected teams participate in 2 mentoring and pitch training sessions with industry experts

23 October - 30 October 2023

Round 2: pitching

All 50+ teams pitch 1-on-1 in front of VCs and angel investors

30 October - 10 November 2023

Pre-acceleration

Top 20 teams begin the 3-weeks pre-acceleration program

20 November - 10 December 2023

Demo Day

All 20 pre-accelerated startups pitch at our Demo Day

8 December 2023

Finish

Presented by

For early stage social enterprises in emerging markets, committed to providing entrepreneurial innovative solutions for the achievement of SDGs by generating measurable social and environmental impact, Creatella Impact provides venture building, technology execution, mentorship, advisory support, other acceleration programmes, impact investment including financial capital, deal syndication, blended funding and diverse financial instruments.

Website: creatella.org

Social Value Malaysia is the first social value and impact management quality setters in Malaysia. We create unique services based on evidence and credible frameworks with international accreditation to manage and measure social value and impact. We understand sustainability, SDG impact, social impact, and social value by helping our clients and partners with insightful and customized plans backed by relevant industry experience and research.

Website: socialvaluemalaysia.org

Our Partners

Partners

With support from

Impact Partner

Gender Partner

Prize Partners

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the rules of participation?

In brief, your startup must be women-led and an early-stage technology startup (prototype stage to Series A) with less than US$ 1,000,000 in yearly revenues. Your focal market must be Malaysia with an impact on at least of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).

Please refer to the Rules of Participation for the exhaustive list of eligibility criteria.

Do I have to be incorporated to apply?

No, but you should have clear development project and goals. In the case that a non-incorporated project wins the competition, the funds will be transferred or prizes will be given once the company is incorporated.

What are the evaluation criteria?

The team, problem identification and value proposition, innovation, timing, market opportunity, execution plan and go-to-market strategy, business model viability, investability and pitch quality.

What language will the event be conducted in?

The application, the online pitch and talkings with advisors and investors will be held in English.

How much time will I have to spend on the competition?

It will take about 15 to 30 minutes to apply. If you are selected for the mentoring round, you will participate in two 30 to 60 minutes calls with your assigned mentor. If you are then selected as a finalist, you will have the opportunity to pitch to a judge (investor) for 30 minutes. If you are among the 20+ selected to join the pre-acceleration program, the pre-acceleration will last for 3 weeks. We also recommend to take some time and fully prepare for each round in order to get the most out of the competition, but the necessary time will vary from team to team.

Can I apply to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) categories?

Yes, if your startup covers several of them. You will have to briefly justify how your startup addresses the SDGs when completing the application form.

What are the rules for the pitching?

In the mentoring phase (round 1), you will have 2 calls of 60 minutes with one mentor each, with 10 minutes to pitch, as well as 40 minutes of feedback and mentoring. The mentors will be given a one-pager summary of your startup, as well as your pitch deck. For the judging phase (round 2) you will have 10 minutes to pitch and 20 minutes of Q&A.

If you are selected into the pre-acceleration program, you will also join the demo day, during which you will have 2-4 minutes to pitch in front of investors.

How many winners will be chosen?

Round 1 is a non-elimination round. All startups will automatically progress to round 2. In round 2, 20+ winners will be selected as top 20+ and will then move to the pre-acceleration program.

What if I’m not in the same city as the mentors/judges?

That’s ok! All of the pitching, mentoring, and judging will take place entirely online. Our team will ensure you are paired with a judge in a similar time zone so each round is convenient for both parties.

Who will be evaluating my application?

Our team will be going through each application and select the best 50+ to participate in the mentoring program. Considerations will include completeness of application, fit within category, impact, team, market, product.

Is there an application fee?

No. Program is offered to startups entirely free of charge thanks to the generous contributions of program sponsors GAC and FGV and in-kind support of Creatella Impact.

Are there any costs associated with the competition?

No, neither money nor equity are requested for participation.

Who can participate in all the rounds?

Only the startup founders/co-founders can participate in each round. We suggest that the same persons participate in every round.

Will Covid-19 related restrictions affect my participation?

Not at all! All sessions are online.

What is the pre-acceleration program and who will get access to it?

The top 20+ startups will be invited to the pre-acceleration round. It is a 3-weeks workshop led by industry experts/facilitators specially designed to support and provide opportunities for women founders to grow their team, product, and startup align with the SDGs.

What are the WEPs? Is it required to be a signatory to be eligible?

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles offering guidance to business on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.

It is not mandatory to be signatory to be eligible fort the competition and pre-acceleration, however we highly encourage you to become a signatory at https://www.weps.org/

The future of entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia is digital, impactful, and powered by women.

SheDisrupts Malaysia 2023 is a programme combining mentorship, venture competition, pre-acceleration and demo day for social and environmental enterprises in pursuit of achieving maximum impact for women economic empowerment in Malaysia.